Melaw Nakehko is Dehcho and Denesuline Dene, and was born in Fort Simpson in the Northwest Territories, Canada. Nakehk’o is a visual artist who paints, sews and beads, as well as a traditional moose hide tanner based out of Yellowknife, Northwest Territories. She has taught moosehide tanning at the Dechinta Bush University Center for Research and Learning. In 2012, she received a Minister’s Cultural Award for “sharing the knowledge of her elders and for bringing a renewed interest to the art of moose hide tanning.”

She is a co-founder of Dene Nahjo, an organization that promotes leadership and social and environmental justice for indigenous people of the northern territories.